During a five-year stretch with surgeries, heartbreaks and losses, there was never a moment when Lanni Marchant didn’t consider retiring from running.

The body that took her to the Rio Olympics was broken. Loved ones died. Running, her coping mechanism, was the one activity she couldn’t do. Marchant’s resume by then included a Canadian marathon record, two law degrees and work in athlete advocacy and criminal law.

“After the (2016) Olympics, I ran the New York City Marathon, I got sick, my dad overdosed and died,” said Marchant. “I had kidney surgery in 2017 and almost died. Then my grandma died. Then I had the hip surgery in 2018, which could’ve been career-ending surgery. We knew that going in.

“In 2019 I had endometriosis surgery and in 2020 my last grandma died. In 2021 I found (friend) Zach on his bathroom floor. It’s been five years of surgeries and loss.”

A recent turnaround, and being injury free for the first time in what seems like an eternity, has brought Marchant here for Sunday’s Honolulu Marathon. The 37-year-old from London, Ontario, who currently lives in Denver, is one of two professional runners in the women’s field.

“I didn’t know for certain in the spring and summer if I wanted to race again or even run,” said Marchant, who ran at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. “I kind of listened to myself, and if I felt like running, I’d go for a run, and if I didn’t, I didn’t. My coach (said) take the next 18 months and decide if this is something you even want to do.”

Initially, Marchant turned down an invite for the Nov. 7 New York City Marathon. Her agent then suggested running it to keep her mind busy, and she entered the race with no expectations other than supporting the Release Recovery Foundation.

The nonprofit works with individuals affected by mental illness and addiction. Her father died from an overdose. Her friend Zach died from an overdose in April. After five years of pushing herself back from injury, with hopes of competing in the Tokyo Olympics, Marchant didn’t want to run anymore.

“I didn’t have to worry if I ran fast or slow or if I stopped off,” Marchant said of New York. “I was running to show people that really bad things can happen and you can keep going. You can find a way to keep moving forward. It doesn’t have to be perfect.”

Marchant didn’t bother hanging with the race leaders in New York, but by the 10-kilometer mark, she started passing runners who fell off from the lead pack. She thought about picking off a few more and wound up finishing 11th in 2 hours, 32 minutes, 54 seconds in her first marathon since New York in 2016. She felt healthy and happy, and wants to replicate the experience in Honolulu.

“I caught a few and caught a few more,” Marchant said. “It kind of went that way and I made sure I was enjoying the process for the first time in a very long time.”

Hawaii has been part of Marchant’s return to running. She stayed in Kailua following her 2018 hip surgery. Her first race post surgery was the Great Aloha Run in February 2019, where she finished fourth. Marchant returned in 2020 and placed second in the Great Aloha Run.

“When the opportunity came to do the Honolulu Marathon, where I literally took my first running steps post hip surgery, it just seemed like a nice little cap on this year,” Marchant said. “This year was honestly very hard. New York went very well and that closed the circle on five years of crap. Now I feel like Hawaii is a good starting point for this running journey and it’ll be a good place to run a marathon.”

Smaller elite field

Atsede Baysa, the 2016 Boston Marathon champion, is the other professional in the women’s field. Her career includes eight wins and 10 podium finishes. The 34-year-old Ethiopian lives in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Kenyans Reuben Kiprop Kerio and Emmanuel Saina are the two pros in the men’s field.

Typically the elite fields range from four to six runners, athletes who have their expenses paid for to train and compete in Honolulu. But with revenue down 90%, the marathon didn’t make a decision until mid-November to invite pro athletes.

Runners from Japan have historically accounted for about 50% of race entries. There were 16,000-plus from Japan in 2018 and 2019. There were 400 as of last week. There are about 14,000 total entries for the marathon, Start to Park 10K and Kalakaua Merrie Mile.

“We’ve had a number of course records the last few years,” said Jim Barahal, chief executive officer of the Honolulu Marathon Association. “We’ve had Olympians, current world record-holders that have won our race, so many of them have gone on to win Boston, New York, other races around the world. We did not want to have just a local race and whoever kind of wins the race.”

Two-time Honolulu champion Brigid Kosgei’s career took off after she set the course record in 2017. She won the Chicago and London marathons twice, was runner-up at the Tokyo Olympics, and is currently the women’s world record-holder.

Two-time men’s champion Lawrence Cherono went on to win the Amsterdam Marathon in 2018 and won Boston and Chicago in 2019. He was fourth at the Tokyo Olympics.

Honolulu Marathon

>> When: Sunday, 5 a.m.

>> Where: Race starts at Ala Moana, heads westbound into downtown, turns back to Ala Moana and continues into Waikiki, Diamond Head, Kahala and East Honolulu. Runners turn around in Hawaii Kai and finish at Kapiolani Park.

>> Registration: Late registration is accepted through Saturday at the Hawaii Convention Center. Race packets can be picked up there today until 7 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Participants must show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test to enter the facility.

>> Traffic: Lane closures, detours and tow-away zones along the marathon course will be in effect this weekend.

>> Info: honolulumarathon.org